The present invention relates to fragmentable bullets, more specifically, fragmentable bullets for firearms of all calibers, for usage in hunting, warfare and police enforcement.
It is known to provide fragmenting bullets for increased damage to a target in the field of hunting, law enforcement or warfare. Fragmenting bullets provide multiple damage paths, and further the spreading of the fragments increases the chances of hitting a target. The multiple pellets of a shotgun constitute an illustration of this knowledge. During hunting or wartime situations, targets are often moving and maximum damage per bullet is desired. Therefore, there is a need for accurate fragmentable bullets or missiles. The present invention addresses this need.
Simple fragmentable projectiles are long known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 216,974 is an old patent having a rear portion B consisting of a cylindrical body and a cone-shaped forward portion, and a head portion provided with a truncated rear complementary to the cone. The head portion is segmented or serrated so that, upon impact, the cone portion pushes into the truncated rear portion to split the segmented head and provide multiple projectiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 90,732 is an older patent describing longitudinal and horizontal slots within a bullet for allowing fragmentation of a bullet.
More recent patents show greater sophistication of small arms bullets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,922 is a self-fragmentable bullet having hollow point hollow core weakened zones along a head portion and a sloping base portion separated from the head portion by an outer core of reduced diameter. The invention is not provided with a piston which causes fragmentation of the bullet through forward inertia of the base portion upon the retarded head portion.
The use of center core members of differing materials is also known to the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,737 is a kinetic energy projectile incorporating a hardened core 12, fragmenter discs 14 and a pusher disc 22 displaced behind the core. The penetrator core hits and pierces armor, while the pusher disc aids in penetration and also causes the front edges of the fragmenting discs to impact the armor and subsequently scatter to act as antipersonnel projectiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,557 shows a projectile provided with a front insert of different material than the projectile body. The front tip of the projectile body is truncated, and an axial borehole is drilled substantially therefrom into the projectile. The insert mates with the cone and part of the borehole. Upon impact, the insert of hard material is pushed into the body of more malleable material through the borehole and mushrooms or fragments the projectile.
Other patents show the use of inertial members for fragmentation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,535 is a slug provided with a plunger for stabilizing the slug within the barrel.
Most bullets of the type described above fragment upon impact. The present invention incorporates a central inertial member to fragment the bullet, and further work in conjunction with bullet head design to increase the effectiveness of fragmentable bullets.